Welcome to Tachiai

My goals with this blog are to help promote the sport, particularly professional sumo, as well as help other fans find more resources out there.

Today is Day 9 of the Fall tournament. Hakuho leads with a dominant perfect 9-0 record. Kakuryu is one loss back from today’s defeat to Yoshikaze. Harumafuji withdrew earlier last week with an injury to his eye. I have yet to hear whether he has opted for surgery or if he will just rest it. Surgery means a 3 month recovery.

Ichinojo is also one loss back and faces Yoshikaze, who’d be fresh off his Gold Star performance from today. Ichinojo’s first real test in the Makuuchi came against Ikioi on Friday. Ikioi’s bloody throw-down victory made it to the Wall Street Journal’s blog this morning. For some context, the last time the WSJ covered sumo was when a picture of a bunch of wrestlers on a plane went viral in July. Kind of like, “how many clowns can we fit in a tiny car?”

Ichinojo has certainly been impressive against the lower ranks of the maegashira so I look forward to more challenging matches with the Sanyaku. I imagine that if he wins, he’ll find himself up against Kisenosato, Kakuryu, and maybe Hakuho.

The schedule also has Hakuho facing Osunaarashi tomorrow. Osunaarashi’s not had a great tournament but is always capable of getting a win. Aoiyama was strong against Goeido the other day so he could give Ikioi a challenge. Goeido’s going to have a difficult day tomorrow against Kotoshogiku. Both Ozeki really need to rack up more wins. Kotoshogiku was just under threat of kadoban last tournament but pulled through with a great July…